Martin warns councils: don't leave us smelly rubbish!

Published on Mon 30th Apr 2007

Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood has challenged councils' plans to stop collecting some kinds of waste every week. Martin sits on the prestigious House of Commons Select Committee that examines issues affecting local government.

'We urgently need to increase recycling levels' said Martin 'and councils are right to think about alternating recycling collections and general rubbish which has to go to landfill. But I don't think people will accept leaving smelly waste like food or nappies for two weeks. There are possible health risks there too as flies and even maggots can emerge within ten days.'

Lib Dem-run Cambridge now collects cardboard, plastics, glass, paper and cans and separately collects food and garden waste for high-temperature composting. But food waste can always be collected weekly. Cheltenham's door to door recycling collections were also introduced by the Lib Dems